Shakespeare: Print and Performance

A new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) at King'sPost by Dr Sarah Lewis

The
English department at King’s has worked closely with both Shakespeare’s Globe
and the British Library for many years now. The ‘Shakespearean Studies’ MA
programme, which is taught with the Globe, was established over ten years ago,
and the ‘Early Modern English Literature: Text and Transmission’ MA has been delivered
in partnership with the British Library since 2008. In September this year, we
will be further developing our collaboration with these two
important cultural organisations by launching a MOOC (Massive Open Online
Course), which we have built in partnership with the BL and the Globe, and which
draws on the structure of these two MA programmes. Shakespeare: Print and Performance, will be free, open to everyone,
and will run for four weeks in September.

Learners
who sign-up for the MOOC will have the opportunity to explore Shakespeare’s
plays on both page and stage: across a series of 38 short films, they’ll hear
from London Shakespeare Centre academics, go into the archives with curators at
the BL and behind the scenes with actors, directors and musicians at the Globe.
They’ll engage with interactive tools, complete online exercises and contribute
to discussion boards to find out more about Shakespeare’s early modern world
and to consider his construction as a global icon today.

Filming a MOOC lecture at the Globe

The project has been managed by the wonderful King’s Online
team, and every member of the London Shakespeare Centre has been involved with
producing content. It’s been a real collaborative effort, and as a result, the
end product will showcase the huge range of Shakespeare related research that
is currently taking place in the department, as well as at the BL and the Globe.
Thanks so much to everyone who has given their time and expertise to this
project. We have been working on the MOOC for nearly two years now, and we are
currently filming content. We’ve all been practicing our ‘to camera’ faces! As
a free online resource, the MOOC will enable people from all over the world to really
get a sense of Shakespeare in the theatre and on the page, in both early modern
and contemporary London: they’ll see Shakespeare’s Folio in the BL, and watch actors
performing on the stage at the Globe theatre. Learners will have access to the
kinds of materials that are normally reserved for those who are studying on our
own MA programmes. The MOOC is driven by a desire to open up the BL collection,
the Globe stage, and the work of academics in the London Shakespeare Centre, to
as many people around the world as possible.

Watch this space for more information about how to sign-up for
the MOOC… the trailer is also on its way…!